Posted by Denny on the Stampin and Scrappin Message Board on November 19, 1998

Perfection
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You are more perfect
than I could have hoped,
more beautiful than I could have dreamed,
more precious than I could have imagined . . .
. . . I love you more than
I could have known
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Baby Song
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(Diane Woolley)

At first you didn't lift your head;
You didn't know to smile.
The time before you knew my voice
Seemed such a long, long while.
I couldn't wait for you to roll,
And then to sit and clap.
And now you're off and crawling,
Not helpless in my lap.
Why didn't someone tell me
How fast a baby grows,
That every little baby stage
Soon comes, but sooner goes.
So I'll enjoy the fleeting time
Before you learn to walk.
and treasure every tiny noise
Before you learn to talk.
For soon you'll learn to walk,
Then run,
And talk and sing a song,
And never be my babe again.
The babe's forever gone.
Little baby, take your time,
For while you are tiny, you are mine.
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My Footprints (put with baby's footprints in scrapbook)
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Someday I'll jump through puddles,
take a stroll or run a race.
Someday I'll walk across the street
or maybe walk in space.
Someday I'll scale a mountain
or I'll join a ballet corps.
Someday I'll walk a tightrope
or explore the ocean floor.
Someday these feet will do some things
that only heaven knows,
but for today they're happy,
just to wiggle all their toes!

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Little Feet (Put on scrapbbook page with baby’s footprints)
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Two little feet, ten little toes
Leave their impressions today
Soon they will wear two little shoes
And be running an jumping at play.
Two little feet, too little time
Before they are walking to school...
Kicking a rock or skipping a rope
Wading a puddle or jumping a pool.
Two little feet, one little child
Will soon go their own way
But footprints in my mind recall
They stood here yesterday.
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A Lock of Hair
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From a child so fair
A miracle from above
Placed gently in my care
This child is growing
Up so fast
Tomorrow’s the future
Today is the past.
Walking . . . talking . . .
Fading riddles and rhymes
This lock of hair remains
A keepsake of past times.

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Babies are God's opinion that the world should go on.
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A good example of minority rule is a baby in the household.
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Babies are such a nice way to start people. (Don Herold)
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We are always surprised to see girl babies behaving like girls from the very beginning, and boy babies
behaving like boys; we seem to imagine that we had to learn it!
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"When the first baby laughed for the first time, the laugh broke into thousands of pieces and they all went
skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies." (from Peter Pan)
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A baby is cuddles and tickles on toes,
the sweet scent of powder, a kiss on the nose!
A baby is teddy bears, rattles, powder and pins,
meals at midnight...giggles and grins.
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PAGE TOPPERS
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With my 4 year old, I will also do these multi-year pages - but leaving room to add pictures as he grows....
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BABY'S FIRSTS
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Focuses on face, turns head, first fingernail clipping, first formula, first tears, first bath, special visitors,
holds head up, holds head steady, smiles, laughs, coos, sucks thumb/hand, recognizes mother/father, lifts
head when on stomach, first sleeps through the night, eyes follow moving object, reaches for objects, holds
toy, squeals, plays peek-a-boo, plays with hands/feet, smiles at/plays with baby in the mirror, first
baby-sitter, uses arms to lift head and chest, turns toward sound, reaches for small objects (like a raisin),
sits alone briefly, holds head level when raised to sitting, rolls from tummy to back, rolls from back to
tummy, first cereal/fruit/vegetable/meal, rolls across room, babbles, does raspberries, sucks toes, scoots,
sits alone well, feeds self cracker, can hold self in standing position, transfers objects from one hand to the
other, bangs things, crawls, first swim, pulls up to standing, first shows stranger anxiety, imitates sounds,
understands some words, says first word, claps hands (plays pat-a-cake), knows object permanence (can
find toy if he watches you hide it or looks for dropped object), waves bye-bye, says mama/dada, can pick
up small object such as a raisin, stands alone, cruises (walks holding on to furniture), walks with help,
walks alone, can drink from a cup, uses a spoon, climbs up/down stairs, understands the word no, rolls
ball, responds to simple commands You can also include baby's favorite things, such as music, position,
person, bottle, pacifier, blanket, toy, food, animal, game, book, etc.
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BRAG BOOK
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I used a Sentiments album, and 4 colors of paper, Cranberry, Gold, Green and Blue. (Red and Yellow
would have worked, but I like the shade of Cranberry with the Gold.) For the phrases I used, I wound up
making 22 Cranberry building blocks, 22 Yellow, 15 Blue and 17 Green. I made them 1.5 inches square.
Of course, you could use "baby" colors, but I used the brights because that's really about the only "theme" I
used for baby things when expecting #1. I have several things in these colors.
On the first page, I put 2 blocks down the left side and 4 across the bottom. I tried to keep my blocks in
the same order on each page but didn't always succeed. On these blocks I spelled out SO CUTE with the
primary ABC stickers, using contrasting colors for each block, but not always the same color. For
instance, I didn't *always* use a yellow sticker on the green blocks. (If you don't already know it, though,
green stickers on blue paper and vice/versa doesn't show up very well.) I also "jostled" the blocks so that
they are all slightly turned and the lines run in different directions so they look kind of scattered rather
than lined up like neat little soldiers.
On the next pages, I made double page spreads with the two word phrases split between the two pages.
The phrases I ended up using are:
BABY LOVE DEAR ONES TOO CUTE OUR KIDS
GOD'S GIFT WE'RE FUN CUTE KIDS FUN TIME
JOY'N' LOVE
(other ideas are: GOD'S JOYS DADS GIRL MOMS JOY)
On the last page, I put two blocks down the left side and three across the bottom and spelled out SO FUN.
On the double page spreads, I alternated putting the blocks across the top with putting them across the
bottom.
Then to make this album usable for a long time to come, I put a 4x6 photo mounting sleeve on each page.
Centered and all the way at the top or bottom of the inside pages, up in the top right hand corner of the
first and last pages. The PMS actually covers a little of the edge of each letter, but the letters are still
visible enough that even with a 4x6 picture in the sleeve, you will be able to read it. Now I will be able to
put in new photos as I get them, then scrapbook the old ones I just took out. I also took a 5x7 PMS, cut off
one inch on the side to make it 5x6, clipped a two inch triangle off the top right hand corner, fire sealed
the left edge and mounted it at a slight angle on the back cover to handle the rest of the pack of pictures,
since most film is 24+ exposures and I only did 20 pages in the album.
Final thing, I took a piece of white paper (a rectangle from the Short Cuts pack) and used the primary
ABC's to spell out WE'RE BUILDING A FAMILY and then mounted it inside the front cover.
(Building....building blocks....get it?)
This was slightly tedious - all those blocks! - but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Melanie Ellis
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If Men Got Pregnant:
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Maternity leave would last two years ... with full pay
There would be a cure for stretch marks
Natural childbirth would become obsolete
Morning sickness would rank as the nation's #1 health problem
All methods of birth control would be 100% effective
Children would be kept in the hospital until toilet trained
Men would be eager to talk about commitment
They wouldn't think twins were so cute
Sons would have to be home from dates by 10:00 PM
Briefcases would be used as diaper bags
Paternity suits would be a fashion line of clothes
They'd stay in bed during the entire pregnancy
Restaurants would include ice cream and pickles as main entrees
Women would rule the world!!!
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PHOTO TAKING IDEAS
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